I like this fic. I started writing it about the time I started rehearsals for A Christmas Carol at my favorite theatre house. Even though that was back in very early October, I decided it would be better to wait a little while and post it at a more…vaguely Christmas-y time. And it's not your average Frontier Christmas fic, either, so buckle up for the ride.

Oh, and I chose Odaiba as the setting for two main reasons. One, it is after all where the first Digimon really came to a climax, but it's mostly because Odaiba is an artificial island within the boundaries of Tokyo. Artificial as in man-made, profoundly electronic. It seams perfect for the Digimon to appear there, you know?

The writing style of the opening is based on the chapter beginnings of the shoujo manga Nana.

Disclaimer:

I don't own Digimon or anything to do with it. I am just, quite simply, utterly and completely obsessed.

More More Happy Christmas

Chapter 1: Blackout

"Hey guys, do you ever wonder why the Spirits chose us? There were tons of kids at the station that day. What did we do?"

"Ophanimon said that the Spirits reacted to our hearts, right?"

"I don't think that's the whole story. There's gotta be more to it."

"Here we go again, another of Junpei's crazy conspiracy theories."

"Hey, I'm serious! There's got to be a reason why they chose us, out of everyone there."

"You know…He might have a point."

"It is sort've strange."

"You know what's stranger? When all this started, I could have sworn that we'd met somewhere before…"

( - ) ( - ) ( - )

Tokyo, Japan - Odaiba District

December 18th, 1996 - 4:47 PM

The door of the small, humble electronic story opened and closed with the light ring of a bell, announcing the arrival of a rather ill-tempered six year old boy. His auburn-brown eyes were scrunched together with the rest of his angry little face, brown hair falling freely around it. He was wearing a heavy red T-shirt, poking out from under an orange sweater and blue jeans, a shiny pair of square goggles dangling loosely around his neck. He stormed to the back of the shop like he'd owned the place…and all things considered, it might as well be true.

"It's not fair!" He exclaimed loudly as he entered the back room.

His uncle, a relatively older man with slightly graying brown hair, paused his work of fixing an old TV set to look down at his nephew. "Hello, Takuya."

The little boy pouted up at him. "Uncle Hiro, I'm moving it with you! I'm running away from home, and I'm gonna stay here! I'm not going back again, ever!"

"Never ever?" His uncle grinned, glancing at the backpack Takuya carried. It seamed to be stuffed to the brim with comic books, action figures and hand-held video games.

With that, he stormed off, crouching down next to a partially-repaired computer and pulling a couple of action figures from his backpack.

His uncle shook his head, picking up the phone and dialing his sister-in-law's number. "Kids these days…"

( - )

The public library spent a large portion of the winter vacation somewhat abandoned, and today was one of the worst. With dark storm clouds rolling in to cover the already gray sky, most of the collection's usual patrons had chosen other prospects, like staying home and boarding their windows.

The only sound echoing through the wooden halls was the light tip-tap-tapping of a computer keyboard, which echoed from the door to the computer room, which was standing ajar.

A sever year old boy sat in the chair, typing away on the computer as the internet browser scanned through the search engine. His dark brown hair was cut short, coming to a stop just over his brown eyes, which were focused intently on the screen in front of him. He was a bit pudgy all over, dressed in a heavy yellow jacket over a white shirt and blue jeans, kick king his feet slightly as he muttered to himself.

"All right!" He was saying to the air, grinning. "These tricks are awesome! I can't wait to give this one a try!"

The squeaking of an old cart soon reached his ears, followed by the soft sigh of the Head Librarian as she hovered in the door of the computer lab. "More magic tricks, Shibuyama-san?"

"Yes ma'am!" Junpei Shibuyama piped, turning around to smile warmly at the old woman. "I've found some good ones!"

"I'm glad." The Librarian nodded, pushing the cart onward. "But you might want to head home soon, dear. Your mother will worry, and you don't want to be caught in this storm."

"Okay." The seven year old swiveled his chair around, turning his eyes back to the glowing screen of magic.

( - )

Izumi Orimoto liked cold, windy days.

It was a strange thing to most people that this adorably perky little six year old would be so fond of the drab and dreary weather, but it was true. She seamed more the type to enjoy sunny days, with her long golden hair and bright blue eyes, both of which were inherited from her half-Italian father. Yet she would often be seen splashing through puddles and dancing through the winds, wrapped snuggly in her purple hoodie, blue-jean skirt and heavy purple stockings before running happily into her nice, warm home.

Having completed her traditional storm-romp, the six-year-old busied herself in the kitchen for her snack. With Daddy working late tonight, she knew she had a big plate of his famous Pasta Italiano with meatballs and special tomato-cheese sauce waiting for her, to hold her over until dinner time. She went straight for the fridge, dumping the contents of the plastic container onto a plate and setting it in the microwave.

"Three, two, five and…Start!" She piped brightly, standing on tip-toe on a kitchen chair to typein the numbers just as her father had taught. The machine whirred to life, the fan buzzing as the light shot on and the plate began to turn slowly.

Izumi smiled brightly and jumped down from the chair, padding in her sock feet to gaze out the window at her delightfully windy day.

( - )

"Oh…Tomoki, no!"

The toddler looked up at his mother, wide brown eyes blinking innocently. A floppy orange had rested atop his mop of mousy brown hair, matching the orange overalls he wore over his tiny little body. His little three-year-old hands reached up to grip the edge of the counter, stretching for the cell phone that sat just out of his reach.

"That's right." The woman smiled. "That's Yutaka's toy, and you know he wouldn't like it if you…"

"Mom!" As if on-cue, the twelve year old eldest of the family came out of his room very suddenly. "My laptop's crashed again!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear." His mother sighed. "But maybe it's for the best, what with this storm and all…"

The older boy grumbled, retreating to his room to stuff the offending device under his bed. His mother sighed, setting her youngest son down so that he waddled happily to hug his brother around the legs.

"Now remember, Yutaka, you said you'd watch Tomoki tonight while Dad and I go out…"

"Yeah, yeah, I remember…" The boy sighed and looked down at his brother.

Tomoki smiled up at him broadly and happily. "Onii-san!" He cooed.

"Well, it's nice to see you two getting along." Their mother smiled warmly, even as Yutaka rolled his eyes rolled his eyes. "Now don't forget, if you need us…"

Tomoki wasn't old enough to understand the string of sentences that followed, nor did he have any need to do so. He stopped trying to get his brother's attention as he gazed around the room like an adorable little bobble head doll.

And, because it was just at his eye level, he was the only one who saw as the discarded laptop suddenly sparked to life…

( - )

Two boys just reaching the age of six walked together down the chilled winter streets.

From a distance, the two would seem to be mirror images, and up closer it was only minutely resolved. They had the same blue eyes, the same gently curved face, and were exactly the same height. However, the hair of the boy on the right was vaguely darker and slightly longer, hanging loose and smooth around his face. He was wrapped in a navy blue wind breaker, a blue and yellow tiger-striped bandana tied around his neck. His companion's hair was shorter, thicker and oh-so-slightly lighter. He wore a heavy white sweatshirt with blue sleeves and clutched his brother's hand with warmth and care.

The two walked slowly through the abandoned neighborhood, not speaking and making sure to pass within the light of the street lamps, which had illuminated with the coming of the dark that accompanied the blanket of clouds.

After a long while, the bandana boy spoke. "Kouichi-nii, are you okay now?"

"Yeah…I'm okay, Kouji." The elder of the two rubbed the chilling remains of tears from his cheek. He sniffed lightly. "I just hate it when Mommy and Daddy fight."

"Me too." Kouji Minamoto pulled his brother's hand with his own to fold them in front of him and blow on them. From the look on his face, he would have been perfectly happy to sit down and cry right alongside his twin, but couldn't think of any constructive reason to do so.

Kouichi Minamoto noticed this and steered his brother towards a bus stop bench, situated with a light post hanging just above them. The two boys huddled together, sharing body heat and warm breath, pulling their hands in to tuck them within the cloth of their sleeves.

Their eyes met sadly. Neither of them wanted to hurt their parents, especially not their mother, but there came a time when anyone would need to get away from the shouting and the yelling…

"Hey, Kouji?"

"Yeah?"

"What'sa de-vor-su?"

Kouji thought for a while, but shook his head. "I dunno."

"It must be something bad. Daddy says it to Mommy sometimes, when he gets really mad." Kouichi whispered softly, looking down at his dangling feet. "It's gotta be bad, 'cause every time Daddy says it, Mommy cries."

There was another long silence between them as the counted each other's icy, visible breaths. Then, Kouji spoke again.

"It's getting late."

"Yeah. It's almost time for dinner."

"Yeah. We should go back."

"Yeah."

A loud boom jarred them out of their frozen stupor. Kouichi, who was, unfortunately enough, easily startled, grabbed his brother's arm and looked around fearfully. "What was that?"

"I'm not sure." Kouji gripped his brother's hand. "It sounded like…"

Another crash echoed through the air, illuminating the buildings of the man-made island with an unnatural blue light. Kouji's arms flew around his brother's shoulders, and Kouichi's around the other's waist, even as the city around them plunged into darkness.

( - )

"What in the name of…?" Uncle Hiro leapt to his feet as the lights blinked out all at once. "Dam-uh, darn fuse box…Takuya, stay here."

Takuya wasn't listening, even as his uncle disappeared through the basement door with a flashlight. He was a little too busy staring in shock at the glowing, sparking, smoking monitor in front of him, and back away as something large and round began to push towards him from the swirling blue…

( - )

The swivel chair fell to the ground, sending a sorely freaked-out Junpei rolling haphazardly into the wall. Another crash of thunder echoed throughout Odaiba, prompting the large boy to cover his head with his hands as the computer shrieked.

"I'm gonna die!" He gulped, whimpering with every flash of thunder, not noticing the flurry of blue sparks tumbling down from the computer screen…

( - )

Izumi screamed, but not because of the thunder, or because the house had suddenly gone dark. She scrambled to the other side of the kitchen and screamed because her eyes were now locked on the spiraling blue light filling the microwave and surrounding what had previously been her delicious afternoon snack…

( - )

"Oh, now what?" Yutaka exclaimed, digging through the kitchen drawer in desperate search of a flashlight. "Tomoki! Tomoki, where are you?"

If he had through to look in his own room, he would have discovered the rear end of his baby brother hanging out from beneath the bed. Tomoki laughed and giggled, kicking his feet and enjoying the soft tickle of cool blue sparks against his face…

( - )

The twin's eyes were squeezed shut, so they didn't see the blue sparks falling from the lamp above them. They did, however, hear the accompaniment: a loud POP, followed by the shattering of glass. The sound elicited a scream from the boys as they rolled out of falling range. They huddled together on the ground, whimpering, until…

The lights came back.

The two lay crouched on the ground, gasping for breath and chocking back sobs as they willed themselves to calm down.

"Is is over?" Kouichi whimpered, peaking out from their curled positions.

"I think so…" Kouji muttered, straightening slightly to look around just a bit.

The lights flickered and glowed softly as though nothing had happened, lighting up a normal-looking grey sky and the gloomy afternoon streets.